You are here: Home → Services & Applications → Clinical Record Standards → Joint Working Group Report on Professional Requirements
 

Developing professional standards for health and social care records - Joint Working Group Report

The Joint Working Group was set up at the request of the Department of Health to examine the development of Electronic Health Records and recommend how professional requirements and leadership could best support the development of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in line with national policy.

The Group met on six occasions and was chaired by Dr Charles Gutteridge, the National Clinical Director for Informatics. Membership of the JWG included representatives from health (medicine, nursing and AHP) and social care.

The two main recommendations of the JWG are as follows:

  • The JWG recommends the establishment of a Professional Record Standards Development Body (PRSDB) that would lead the development and professional assurance of clinical record standards across all specialties and clinical disciplines. The standards will provide the foundation upon which to base the collection, storage, communication, aggregation and reuse of structured clinical information across organisational boundaries throughout health and social care.
  • The JWG recommends that an interim body is appointed under the auspices of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges with the task of establishing the final structure, governance and funding of the PRSDB.

The following bodies were represented on the JWG and endorse the contents of the report:

  • Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
  • Allied Health Professions through the National AHP Informatics Strategic Taskforce (NAHPIST)
  • DH Informatics Directorate
  • National Voices
  • NHS National Services Scotland
  • Royal College of General Practitioners
  • Royal College of Nursing
  • Royal College of Ophthalmologists
  • Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
  • Royal College of Psychiatry Informatics Committee
  • Royal Pharmaceutical Society
  • Royal College of Physicians (London)
  • Scottish Royal Colleges
  • Social Care representative
  • University College London Health Informatics

The following organisations have indicated their support for the recommendations contained within the report:

  • Academy of Medical Sciences
  • Arthritis Research UK
  • Cancer Research UK
  • College of Occupational Therapists
  • Health Quality Improvement Partnership
  • Medical Research Council
  • National Nursing Informatics Strategy Taskforce (NNIST)
  • Research Capability Programme
  • Wellcome Trust

To read more about this work and to download the report please visit the RCP website.